Writing Tips
by xLittleMissReality
Summary: This with help you make your stories better, attract readers well, not attract, but not scare them away , and uh, other stuff!
1. Edition 1

Okay, I know this is going to go unread, but for those who care, I want to post this. These are my tips on how to get people to read your story, or stick to reading it. And a few of my greatest pet peeves...

1) Make sure your title is spelled right and is using correct punctuation. If you can't even make the title spelled right, people probably won't want to read the story.

2) Same with the summary. I see a lot of this: (Example, not real) _sasuke and hinata are in a band and tehy are gonna go agenst each other wll they find luv or hate read and find out _Things wrong: No captilization, typos, spelling, no punctuation, txt tk. This is a big turn off, and I've seriously seen something like that. Sometimes the summaries are awesome, but it didn't have good grammar, so I didn't want to read it, fearing that it'd be the same.

3) When describing things in your story, you shouldn't put it all in one big paragraph. People usually don't read it and skip over it. My tip is, whenever you see where it could be a break, make a new paragraph.

Example, unrevised:

_The room was a shocking white, with barely anything in it. It was so clean that if you were to run a finger across it, your digit would actually get cleaner. The window was small and barred, and showed a lovely view of the brick building next to this one. She stared through it, straining to look down, and saw trash cans from the valley. With a sigh, she kept observing the dressers were painted the same shocking white, and you could tell the painter was very careful. The material was made of metal or something else, because the grooves of wood weren't there. Crisp bed sheets covered the bed. The pillow was white, but the bedspread itself was actually gray. _Absolutely NO scope for imagination, as Anne would've said_, she thought, refering to one of her favorite books, __Anne of Green Gables__. _

So, who actually read that? Cookie it you did, but anyways, here it is, revised.

_The room was a shocking white, with barely anything in it. It was so clean that if you were to run a finger across it, your digit would actually get cleaner. _

_The window was small and barred, and showed a lovely view of the brick building next to this one. She stared through it, straining to look down, and saw trash cans from the valley. With a sigh, she kept observing the room._

_The dressers were painted the same shocking white, and you could tell the painter was very careful. The material was made of metal or something else, because the grooves of wood weren't there. _

_Crisp bed sheets covered the bed. The pillow was white, but the bedspread itself was actually gray. _Absolutely NO scope for imagination, as Anne would've said_, she thought, refering to one of her favorite books, __Anne of Green Gables__._

Now, it's still boring, but it's alot easier to read now. And it makes your story seem longer. :D

4) When using quotations, be careful. A lot of people either clump it in a paragraph, or don't capitalize anything. Or they put a space inbetween the word and the quotation mark.

Example of all: _" i don't think I'll go, " she said, sighing. " my father said that i need to clean my room, and you know how messy it is!" They both laughed. " yeah, last time i went, it was a disaster!" The other sighed. " not helping." _

5) Re-read for typos. I myself am a huge victim. You never know when one can pop up. Don't be impatient!

6) Don't rush the story! And I am GUILTY. Yep, but I get excited. Once again, even if you get excited, you should slow it down or the story will be bad, but don't slow it down to the point where it's so boring that no one will read anymore.

7) If there are OOC (Out of character) people in there, make sure that you warn them in the summary. They WILL complain. Trust me. TT3TT

8) Don't put too many Author's Notes in there, it slows down the story. And also, if you do put an Author's Note in the beginning/end, don't make it too long unless you don't care if they don't read. ^.^' If you absolutly HAVE to put in a note, just use the number system. Put a number next to where you would normally put a note (ex. **(3)**) and at the bottom, you can write the number and write what you HAD to write. (ex. **3) Onee-chan means sister**)

9) Make sure you like the story enough to continue. Nothing downs a reader like a big **DISCONTINUED** on the story. If you know you probably won't continue it, don't even put it up.

10) Make sure that the idea hasn't been used. If the idea has been used and you find it very close to your own story, work it out with the other author and avoid getting flagged.

11) Don't be afraid to put your own essence into the story! As long as it fits.

12) When you don't know how to spell something, just put the sign, and people will understand. (I seriously don't know how to spell this: ex: _...essence (sp?)_)

13) If your character is singing, don't put the lyrics, unless you want to, or if each has a meaning. Most people will skip over it.

14) Re-write a chapter or two if you don't like it. It helps most of the time.

15) Put the pairings, if any, in the summary so that people can find your story. I was reading someone's favorites and found a great SasuHina, but when I went to look for it, I couldn't find it, and I remembered it didn't have the pairing on it, so it was harder to search for. Still looking for it actually...

Well, that's all I can think of at the moment, and I'll add stuff over time. BYE!


	2. Username Change

A/N Hey guys! Sorry if you were disappointed and thought this was a new chapter or something. Just wanted to tell you that I changed my username from Nessa Is LittleMissReality to .xLittleMissReality. Just wanted to clear it up and make sure no one thought that I'm stealing someone's stories. :D Thanks for reading!

~Gabi


	3. Edition 2

16) **When writing a story, make sure to spell the character's name right!** I've seen many people spell Tenten Ten-Ten or TenTen or something. IT'S TENTEN. DEAL WITH IT. Gosh. Also, recently, I've seen a story calling Hiashi Hitashi. I don't know how they got it. Maybe they were writing it down with Itachi and Hizashi in mind. I don't know, but I stopped reading partially because of that, partially because the writing was all over the place and confusing. Moving on!

17) Now this is a big fail of mine. I'm in the process of redoing my story because of this. Ready? Okay. **If you are writing a story on being in a movie or a band, some sort of factory, or business, make sure you do your research before writing the story. **I was writing my fanfic With A Touch of Make Up and I had no idea how movies worked and therefore I winged it. Thankfully this Saturday I was waiting for my mom in Wal-Mart and was reading a book on the production of "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid" (the movie) and found out I had very little right about movie shooting. *sigh* I'm going to try to buy the book since it has lots of little facts I need. ...

18) **Take risks.** If you're doing an idea that's been used many times before, be sure to add some spice into it to make it unique. Or make it incredibly cliche but still be unique in its own way. examples of cliche ideas: highschool, colledge, co-workers, in a band, writer, composer, manager, doctor/nurse, actor/actress, singer, prodigy, business, stripper, babysitter, plays an instrument, camp, famous, heiress, playboy/nerd, playboy/playgirl, nerd/nerd, normal teens/adults, kiddie stories that end up being adults and falling in love, enemies/rivals that fall in love, rich girl/boy/poor girl/boy, memory loss, boss/employee, teacher/student, emo/prep, prep/prep, emo/emo, found out so much more, love through a bet, spies, director/actor(I'd like to see director/camera person), book character that went into reality/real life person, robot/human, ghost/human, witch/king, holiday, birthday, anniversary, crushing, love triangles/rectangles/octagons..., librarian, ...etc.

Yeah. I could go on and on forever or I could go to number 19.

19) **If you have a story, don't immediately go off pairing everyone off. **As much as possible, try to avoid scenes that end up like this: _Finally it was time for prom. I went with Micheal, Leah went with Colin, and Hannah and Kris were together, along with Reena and Tod, Jenn and Griffin, and Kallie with Frederic. _Take time to introduce characters. Maybe introduce them in 2-4 person groups. Maybe introduce them already dating and make one of the two minor characters. Make it more like... Life. **Don't stuff to shove down your readers' throats so that you can get on with the story**. (Again, guilty, but that's why I'm rewriting everything) Exceptions are if it is at the very and and you've done it in a creative way or careless-awesome-cliche-lovey way(_So Trent and Yenna, Kurt and Faye, Justin and Raven, and blah blah blah finally got together, but who cares? I have Cedric and that's what really matters)_, or it has to be a WWFFY quiz because otherwise the quiz results won't make any sense or you'll have to really take time to develop a plot and character and character background before entering of boys but the audience is usually love sick teens who are easily bored by quality writing(*AhemQUIZILLA). And yes, I just randomly made up all those names.

20) **Make sure to write down plot-bunnies and ideas. Just drop everything and write it down. **I know from experience and others that they are as easy to lose as to get.

21)** Don't write in script. **It's annoying and you usually can't tell what's happenning. For example, sorry if that author happens to be reading this, there was a James/Lily story where it was something like this but pretty much the same.

_J: Why do we fight all the time?_

_L: Because you're a jerk._

_J: That's because you don't give me a chance!_

Yadda yadda yadda... And THEN...

_J: ..._

_L: ..._

_J:Wow, that was... Amazing._

_L: Woah._

If you're like me, I'll tell you then and save you those extra seconds of trying to figure it out. They just kissed. Now, this would be great if it was like an ACTUAL script and it says [JAMES kisses LILY passionately] but it sucks out all of the quality writing oppurtunities. And maybe warn people in the summary what format you're writing in if you are into doing this. If you do enjoy writing this way, then imagine that you're writing a real script. You can't just pull the '...' because the actors won't know what to mime. And if it's really an IM chat sort of thing, PLEASE give the reader SOME kind of warning. And be careful. At least have some sort of trace of an actual story format. They have to log off sometime, right?

22) If you put some sort of quote in a summary, make sure you've already written it in a chapter. Someone put a quote and I got all excited to read it and see the rest of the context...! Only to find that it wasn't there yet. Unless you've already written out/panned everything for the next (few) chapters and the quote's there, don't put it up. It dissappoints readers and you might not even know if it'll end up getting cut out in the process!

23) **Be descriptive. **Do I even have to explain?

24) This one is sort of a half and half, opinionated sort of thing. **Little battles between yourself and characters in the author's note are sometimes charming and funny, but sometimes annoying. **Plus, it's getting become a bit cliche. (But then again, the word cliche and making girls not cliche is turning cliche... UGH!) So I'll let you decide on that one.

25) **I know that the statement is supposed to be said like an exclamation, but it's still a question! **Example: _What the heck!_ Yeah. 'What the heck' is a question and it ends with a question mark. That peeves me to bits!

26) **Don't put the pairing as the title. **It's really unprofessional. (Hmm... I wonder if I fall under this category with _RENT: SasuHina Style..._ Nah, its fine, I'm not supposed to be taken seriously with that one) Example: _A Channy Story, A SasuHina Christmas, SasuHina._ Really people, really?

27) **If a person stutters, **even if it is an extremely shy character like Hinata**, don't make them stutter more than 1-3 times. Maybe in a speech, 1-4. **Quite frankly, I know someone with an extreme speech impediment and he does not stutter THAT much. If they stutter 2-3 times on every WORD, then the reader will get annoyed and just try to find the words, and they will ignore the feeling, most likely. I've read any fic with Hinata in it and she stutters 4 times on each word. She's shy, but even listen to the anime, dub or sub. She never stutters, her voice is just small and mouse-like.

28) **Don't use too much cliche but don't be afraid of it. **A little cliche-ness never hurt anyone... Or their stories...

29) If you wrote a one-shot but took it down, then put it up the next year, make sure to **change any dates if needed to current time. **.#


	4. Edition 3

30.) **If writing an IM conversation, if the person has a speech impediment or a stutter, they won't type out the stutter! **Seriously people? I'm sorry that there are so many Naruto fic references, but here's another one. Hinata is a character that stutters. You won't even believe how many people will write an IM conversation and she gets really embarrased and becomes something like this:

xXSakuraBlossumsXx: U lyk him, don't u Hinata?

oOLavenderOo: N-No I d-don't l-l-l-LIKE him!

xXSakuraBlossumsXx: I knew it!

Seriously? If she's nervous, maybe write in a few typos in the sentence.

xXSakuraBlossumsXx: You like him, don't you Hinata?

oOLavenderOo: No I doon't lilke him!11

xXSakuraBlossumsXx: U always make typos when ur nervous Hina ;)

So there. No character would type out their stutters.

31.) **Okay/OK** Alright, I guess this is just a pet peeve. Most people spell okay... Well 'okay.' But then every once in awhile people will spell it OK... So you can have your own preference on this one. However, **if you do choose to use OK, it is OK. Not ok. OK.** Okay? (Wow, that was laaaame.)

32.) **If a word or name ends with 's' and you need to make a possesion, you still do an apostrophe s. **For example, if you have a story in which the main character's name is Tess, it would be Tess's book, not Tess' book. Same goes for any word or name that end with s. It's Tess's and not Tess' because Tess' would be implying her name is Tes, there are many of her so stuff that belongs to them is Tess'. That's what's gramatically correct.

33.) **Make sure you know when to use its or it's. **Its is possession and it's is it-is.

34.) _**COWS! Put lots and lots of cows. Drinking lemonade. That should do it.  
**_Okay yeah. That's not a real tip. Can you tell I'm stalling? Here's the real tip 34: **Changing between POV's is fun and gives the reader a chance to really start understanding all points of the story. **If you switch from character to character every once in awhile between chapters it's nice. For example, if you had a mainly one character telling the story, have another character tell the story for a chapter. Unless you have a completely third character and want to keep it that way. It's just a treat to readers.

35.) Pretty simple. **A lot is two words.**

36.) **Take requests.** Requests are good for expanding your writing abilities. Every once in a while, a weird one will pop up but take the challenge. You might end up enjoying the topic. Join contests or use themes.

37.) I'm a really big offender of this and it's partially because I just learned about this. You'd think by eighth grade I would've found out but ya know... They just sorta assumed we learned it when we didn't. Alright. **So if you're making quotations around something, the quotation marks always end the sentence or phrase if using a comma. **For example, if you're trying to show what one character said to another:

My mom said that I had to "be one with the wave," but how am I supposed to do that?

Notice that the comma went inside the quotation. Or if it's the end of the sentence...

The word was 'superficial.' -The period went inside.

Same goes for a quote inside of a quote.

"Then she said, 'LIKE OMG!'"

See? All three of the apostrophes are outside.

(This edition seems like a big grammar lesson... Sorry about that.)

38.) **Cliffhangers are good!** You might have a few frustrated readers, but usually they're not seriously frustrated, they're just excited. Cliffhangers make the reader want more and also help when you can't think of how to end a chapter. However, if you do use cliffhangers, **make sure that it is at a place of suspense, or else it won't be a cliffhanger... It'll just be an end to the chapter. **

39.) This was sort of brought up by _StardustSings_. **Just because I put up these rules, there are always exceptions. **For example, she had said she broke the fourth wall in her fics. However, she had written a comedic story and randomly had a place where she broke the fourth wall. It literally said "THE FOURTH WALL HAS BROKEN! IT'S COMPLETELY WRECKED!" and ended it with "THE FOUTH WALL IS NOW FIXED, THANK GOD!" It was funny to me and probably funny to other readers, so it's an exception. Obviously if you're writing a comedic story, doing certain things or writing cliches are okay. By the way, the story is on her profile, it's called **Hotaru no Hikari: A Naruto Fanfic**. I just noticed the title also breaks a rule... But it doesn't matter! My word isn't the law or something.

40.) **If something happens in the events of the show or anime or manga or whatever you're writing about, but it's contradicting what you were about to write, write that it happens before the event.** For example, lots of people put non-massacre if they want Itachi to not be a villain or they put 'Before Absolute Power Part 2' or something if they still want Kevin to be a mutant. Yeah, half of you don't get it and if you do you'll know I'm a nerd :D

So that's it for Edition 3. Bye guys! Thank for reading!


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